Improvement in fastenings for railway-rail joints



'3. w. BucHHElT. Fastenings for' Railway Rail-Mints;h No, 142,610, Patentedse-pfembere,1a7s.

NITED STATES BERNARD W. BUGHHEIT, OF EAST LIVERPOOL, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN FASTENINGS FOR RAILWAY-RAIL JINTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 142,610, dated September 9, 1873 application filed March 27, 1873. l

To all whom it may concern:

` lumbiana and State of Ohio, have invented a Key-C1inch for Securing Fish-Plates to the rails theyl unite, of which the following is a specification:

The object of this invention is to produce some substitute for the bolts ordinarily used in iish-joints which will not be liable to work loose by the action of trains passing over the track. 'Io this end it consists in the combination, with the rails and their fish-plates, of pairs of taper wedge-shaped keys, which are driven in opposite directions through the rails from opposite sides thereof, and have their ends clinched over tight against the plates. These keys form a cheap and efficient substitute for bolts, and, withal, are much cheaper.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure lis a horizontal section of aIish-j oint having my keyclinch applied. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same, and Fig. 3 represents a pair of the key-clinches detached.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in `all the figures.

A A indicate the end portions of two adjacent railroad-bars, and B B the fish-plates uniting the same. These plates are furnished, at regular intervals, with holes for the reception of the keys G (l. So, likewise, are the rails perforated with holes; but these holes are considerably larger than necessary to receive the keys, so that the rails are permitted to move longitudinally, to accommodate eX- loose.

pansion and contraction. The keys G C somewhat resemble spikes. They have lat backs, but with this exception are round. They are inserted through the joint back to back from opposite sides. In this position they are driven through the plates and rails till they wedge tight, and their projecting ends are hammered or clinched over the plates, as shown in Fig. A1.

The joint thus formed is a very secure one, and will not work loose by the action of trains passing over it, and, moreover, the rails can be more readily joined, and these keys are much cheaper than bolts. The liability of the bolts of fish-joints to work loose is a constant source of danger, and therefore anything that will obviate this liability is of ,the utmost value. My invention very securely unites the rails, and the wedging and clinching of the keys prevents the joint from ever working The expansion and contraction of the rails are permitted, by reason of the elongated formrof the holes in the rails.

What I claim as my invention is- The combination, with the rails to be united and their fish-plates, of the pairs of wedge shaped-keys O G, inserted 'into them from opposite sides, back to back, and clinched over against the plates, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

BERNARD W. BUGHHEIT.

Witnesses ROBERT IRWIN, DENIS HroKEY.

TENT OFFICE. 

